The Babysitting Adventures of Ryan & Esposito
by LadyFern
Summary: Jenny's away for the weekend, leaving Ryan to care for the baby. He freaks out and it's Espo to the rescue. **MAY turn into a series of snapshots**


**I would like to make this a series of snapshots but I'm not sure, depends on inspiration and how lazy I am. I LOVE hearing thoughts and comments! Enjoy!**

Esposito finished the last bit of paperwork, flung his jacket over one shoulder and headed home. At 3am, there was no traffic to speak of, which he was entirely grateful for. Despite countless espressos, he was still exhausted and looked forward to the comfort of his bed and the bliss of sleep.

Ryan had taken the weekend off. Jenny was out of town with a bunch of her girlfriends and Ryan had been both eager and terrified to stay home with the baby. Holly Ryan was nine months old and Ryan was still struggling to get the hang of this kid thing. Esposito had offered to pick up Ryan's workload, partly out of sympathy for the poor guy (all those diapers) and partly because Esposito wanted to cover his butt when Ryan would call, inevitably, panicked and lost over how to care for his daughter. "Too much paperwork, bro," he would say. He had it all planned out.

Esposito draped his jacket over the back of the couch, flung his keys on the kitchen table and flopped into bed, face down, hugging the pillow with a sigh. He didn't even bother taking off his boots.

The phone rang.

Esposito groaned and buried his face deeper into the pillow.

The phone rang again.

He tried to ignore it, to squash the instincts that were screaming in his brain, "What if it's an emergency? What if it's Lanie? What if what if what if…"

On the last ring, Espo rolled over, snatched up the phone and growled, "What?"

"Javi?" Ryan squeaked. A high pitched wail started up in the background and Espo winced, pulling the phone away from his ear.

"Ryan, man, you got any idea what time it is? I just finished your paperwork, you owe me. I need my beauty sleep, bro."

"I know, I know, and I'm really sorry," Ryan replied. His voice seemed tight, stressed. "I just…I don't know what to do. Holly's been crying for the past three hours. Dude, I don't…I can't do this…"

"What are you calling me for!? This is Jenny's department. I don't know what to do with a baby. They're just weird little fat humans that cry and poop and eat a lot."

"I didn't know who else to call," Ryan's voice was now dangerously close to breaking. "Jenny needs her weekend, she doesn't get time to herself anymore. And if I called her on her first day away…I just, I didn't want to do that. I wanted to prove to her that I could do this, you know?"

More wailing in the background. Full lung capacity this time.

"Dude," Espo said, "I've served in the military, I've faced murderers, terrorists, torture, bombs, you name it. The war zone you are in right now, that's terrifying, man."

"Please, Javi," Kevin whimpered.

Espo flopped back onto his bed, hand over his eyes. "Fine, I'll be there in ten minutes."

He really had no idea why he was doing this. This was Ryan's kid, not his. He didn't sign up for the midnight feedings, no sleep, diaper changes…but he was going to get it anyway. The intense screaming greeted him as he stepped out of his car and came up the walkway to Ryan's house. At that point, he nearly turned tail and ran but no matter the war zone, you never leave your buddy behind. He took a deep breath and as he was about to knock on the door, it opened and Ryan wrapped Espo in a tight, one armed hug, while he cradled the baby, red faced, mouth wide open in a scream, in the other arm.

"Thanks so much for coming, man, I owe you big time," Ryan said.

"Oh yeah, you're gonna owe me for a long time for this, bro. What is it exactly that you want me to do?"

"Could you just, hold her, for like, two minutes, while I get her some formula?"

"Hold her!? Bro, no, I can't…"

But little Holly was already in his arms and Ryan had disappeared into the kitchen. Espo stood stunned for a few seconds, staring at her tiny round face that was beet red from the effort of crying at the top of her lungs for the past three hours. A strange, entirely unwelcome feeling crept under his skin, crawling and shivering like a mass of spiders until it finally reached his heart and squeezed. The overwhelming urge to put the child down and run away as fast as possible seized him. He hadn't felt it in a long, long time but he knew it for what it was: terror. Fear at being caught unprepared, unaware, and defenseless in the enemy's camp.

He pushed his fear away – no soldier has time for fear to cripple him - and began sorting through the feeble arsenal of child care that he had amassed over the years from movies and books and quick glimpses of families on the street.

He tried bouncing and rocking but that didn't work. He paced the living room to no avail.

The two minutes Ryan had promised turned into five minutes, then seven, then ten.

"What's goin' on in there, bro? Two minutes, you told me. Two. Not ten."

"I keep burning the formula, I'm sorry Javi. I'll get it right, one minute."

"Empty promises, that's all I hear," Espo grumbled. Holly took a breath for a moment, the house relaxed, however briefly. Then Holly let out another blood curdling yell and before he realized it, Espo was singing. Softly, barely more than a whisper, only for Holly's little pink ears.

Holly's screams quieted and she stared up at Espo with wide, sky blue eyes. She wrapped her tiny fingers around one of Espo's fingers and held on as he continued to sing to her. It was a Spanish lullaby that his mother used to sing to him when he was little, so little. He didn't know all the words, having lost some of them in the abyss made up of memories and time passed.

He glanced up, still singing, to see Ryan paused in the kitchen doorway, bottle formula in hand.

"You got her quiet," Ryan whispered.

Espo didn't dare stop singing. Ryan handed the bottle to him but Holly was already falling asleep, her eyelids drifting closed slowly. Her grip on Espo's finger loosened as her breathing evened out.

"How did you do that?" Ryan asked.

"I swear, bro, I have no idea. But you're never gonna live it down."


End file.
